Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-06-25
J: E1SS-

- @99.
BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.
-Author o f"King Solomon's lIine,'' Etc.
"Are you sure, " she said, that you mean
all this1 I mean sometimes people say things
of a sudden. upon an impulse, and then after
ward they wish that they never had been
said. If that was so it would be rather awk-
ward, ,supposing I were to say yes you
@Of course I am sure,n he said, indig-
nantly.
"You see" went on Bessie, poking at the
sod wall with the stick she had in her hand,
"perhaps in this place you might be putting
an exaggerated value on me. You think I am
pretty because you see nobody but Kafir and
Boer women, and it would be the same with
everything. I'm not fit to marry a man like
you" she went OH, with a sudden burst of
distress; II have never seen anything or any
body. I am nothing but an ignorant, half
educated farmer girl, with nothing to recon-
mend me-, and no fortune except my looks.
You are different to me; you are a mar Of
the world. and if ever you went back to Eng
land l should be a drag on you, and you
would be ashamed of me and my colonial
ways. II it had been Jess now, it would have
been different, for she has more brains in her
little finger than I havein my whole body"
Somehow the mention Of jess Jared upon
Johns nerves n chilled him like a breath Of
cold wind on a hot day. He wanted to put
jess out of his mind just now.
my dear Bessie,n he broke in, "why do you
suppose such things! I can assure you that
if you appeared in a London drawing room
you would put most of the women in it into
the shade. Not that there is much chance of
my frequenting London drawing rooms
again" he added.
"Oh, yes, I may be good looking! I don't
say that l AM not; but can't you understand
1don't want you to marry me just because 1
am a pretty woman, as the Kaffirs marry
their wives. II you marry Inc at all I want
you to marry mo because you care for me,
the real me-not my eyes and my hair. Oh,
l don't know what to answer you! Idon't,
indeed" and she began to cry softly.
Bessie, dear Bessie!' said John, who was
pretty well beside himself by this time, "just
tell me honestly-do you care about me? 1
am not worth much, I know, but if you do,
all this just goes for nothing" and he took
her hand and drew her toward him, so that
she half slipped, half got off the sod wall and
stood face to face with him, for she was a tall
woman, and they were very nearly Of a
heighc
Twice she raised her beautiful eyes to his to
answer and twice her courage failed her, and
then at last the truth broke from her almost
with a cry:
"Oh, John, I love you with all my hearth
And now l think that we may drop a veil
over the rest Of these proceedings, for there
arc some things that should be sacred, even
from the pen of the historian, and the first
transports Of tho love of a pure woman is one
of them.
Suffice it to say that they sat there side by
side on that sod wall. and were as happy ns
people ought to he under such circumstances,
till the glory departed from tho western sky
and tho world grew cold and pale, till the
night came down and hid tho mountains, and
only the stars and they were left to look out
across the dusky distances of tho wilderness
of plain.
Meanwhile q very different scene was being
enacted up at the house, half a mile away
Not moro than ten minutes after John and
his lady love had. departed on that fateful
walk to look at the young trees, Frank Null
ler's stalwart form, mounted on his great
black horse, was to be seen leisurely advanc-
ing toward the blue gum avenue. Jantje was
~ ' tA0 oCSlIlS VI Iu6 llOGS
in tho peculiar fashion that is characteristic
of the Hottentot, II which doubtless is bred
into him after tens Of centuries of tracking
animals and hiding from foes. There he was,
slipping from trunk to trunk and gazing
round him as though he expected each instant
to discover the assegai of an ambushed foe or
to hear the football Of some savage beast of
prey. There was absolutely no reason why
he should lie carrying on in this fashion; he
was simply indulging his natural instincts
where he thought nobody would observe him.
Life at Mooifontein was altogether too tame
and civilized for Jantje's taste, and he abso-
lutely needed periodical recreations of this sort.
Like a civilized child he longed for wild
beasts and enemies, and if there were none
handy he found a reflected satisfaction III
making q pretense of their presence.
Presently, however, while they were yet a
long way OIL, his quick ear caught the sound
of the horses footballs, and he Strengthened
himself and listened. Not satisfied with the
results, he laid himself down, put his ear to
the ground and gave a gutteral grunt of sat
isfaction.